Our daughter was visiting relatives in Washington State. Her home, however, was in Atlanta. My wife and I were temporarily living with her and her husband at the time. She called her mother and said, "Mom, I think you and Paul should have a dog. I can bring home a lovely little Maltese for you guys to love." We protested, thinking about the responsibility, etc. "Nope," said daughter, "I insist."

We met her at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in late evening. Since my legs are arthritic, my wife met her when she got off the plane, and I remember looking at them walking to the car with a little thing running behind them on a leash. Molly, a little fluffy white cloud, arrived at the car, shyly introduced to me, and off we drove to home.

Molly was only six years old when she came in heat shortly after she arrived. Daughter said, "Let's breed her and we can keep a puppy and sell the others." There were financial considerations. Pure-bred Maltese puppies are not cheap.

'Let's do it!'

Late one night two puppies arrived. Wife and daughter stayed up to help Molly with the birth.

Next morning I arose to two tiny little creatures, not much bigger than a mouse.

Speaking sort of under my breath so no one would hear me, I said, "Well, it would be nice if one of these little guys took to me." My wife heard me and has never let me forget it.

I've always been a big dog kind of guy. I've had three golden retrievers. Love the breed. Maltese was a totally different experience.

They were both girls. We named them Violet and Daisy. Daisy was the smaller of the two and the one that came out first.

In a few weeks, as I was picking them up one at a time. Daisy cuddled up, sniffing my nose and settling into my arms. Little did I know at the time that I was being imprinted on her little brain.

We loved these three girls. They became our family. We had "children" again.

Once they were older, Daisy decided that she was the head of the family -- not just the head dog, but the head of the whole family.

It also became clear that she had staked me out for her own. I don't know quite when it happened, but one day she decided that I belonged to her.

When we came home from errands where we had to leave the dogs home, she would lead the pack running around the sofa and coffee table in celebration. She decided that her place for sleeping was on my pillow every night.

In time her mother (Molly) and sister (Violet) passed away. Daisy now became downright possessive. She follows me everywhere, sits in my chair with me when I watch TV, wants to sit in my lap when we go in the car. It's suffocating.

That's a lie.

I eat it up.

In fact, we often have sophisticated discussions and dialogue. Hence these writing pieces were written in response to her concerns and worries.